Blameless
by Yorkie
Summary: Haruka/Michiru Dark tale of the fine line between guilt and innocence.


SAILOR MOON, THE SAILOR MOON CHARACTERS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE   
NAMES AND LIKENESSES ARE PROPERTY OF TOEI ANIMATION, NAOKO   
TAKEUCHI/KODANSHA, DIC AND OTHERS, THEY ARE NOT MINE.  
  
BLAMELESS  
By Yorkie  
  
Sometimes family secrets are best left undisclosed. They may   
make a bit of juicy gossip at a reunion, but for the most they   
are harmless.   
Then there are secrets that if aired could destroy the lives   
of innocent people.  
Parva was privy to many such secrets having spent most of her   
life as a Governess for the Royal family of Uranus. Discretion   
was a part of her job.   
She was a quiet unassuming person that was well liked for her   
frankness and honesty, but mostly she won respect for her ability   
to keep a secret.  
  
One day she had the misfortune of stumbling across the King and a   
young Queen in a rather compromising position, if it had not been   
for her job in the royal household she would surely have lost her   
life.   
The King could hardly execute the woman his children were so dearly   
attached to, instead he swore her to secrecy. Parva agreed to take   
his secret to her deathbed.   
  
That day had finally come. As Parva lay dying she asked to see the   
youngest of the Royal children she had helped to rear, the Princess   
Haruka. There in her final hours she disclosed the burden that had   
weighed on her soul for so long.  
  
Haruka sat on the balcony outside of Parva's room staring blankly   
into the orange midday sky, the old woman's words were still playing   
in her mind. The shock was slowly starting to wear off. What Parva   
had told her couldn't be true, she was old and quite possibly senile,   
that had to be the reason. It was the only thing that could explain   
the monstrous tale she'd just heard.  
  
"Forgive me Princess..." The old creature had whispered in her hoarse  
voice. "if your situation were different I would have spared you this   
grim news."  
  
Haruka closed her eyes; a lump had formed in the back of her throat   
but she wouldn't give into tears. What good would crying do? She   
had to confront the only person who could confirm or deny the   
bizarre story, her Father.  
  
A week had passed since Parva's death and there was still no sign of   
Haruka on the Moon Kingdom. She was due to return after the memorial   
service, but rumor had it that the sky senshi was in seclusion at her   
Castle Miranda.   
There she received no visitors; the staff even tried to turn away   
the Princess Michiru. The girl, however wasn't so easily deterred,   
she forced her way into the bedroom suite. There she was greeted   
with a most disturbing sight.  
  
Haruka was a mess, her appearance was disheveled, her hands shook.  
She looked like some poor lost orphan who was starving for more   
Than just food. Her eyes held a look of despair. Michiru could   
only gape at the figure before her.   
  
"Haruka." She felt the need to take her lover in her arms and   
comfort her. "Darling, what's wrong?"  
  
Haruka backed away from her. "Please, leave."  
  
"No, you need me." Every step Michiru took towards her, she would   
back up two.   
  
"Please, Michiru..." Her hands clenched into fists. "I need some   
time alone."  
  
"You've been alone all week."  
  
Haruka turned and walked out onto the balcony. "This is the last   
time I'll ask you." She whirled on her friend and glared at her.   
"Leave."  
  
The two stared at each other for what seemed an eternity, finally   
Michiru relented. "I'll go, but I'm not leaving the castle."  
  
Haruka watched as her partner left the room closing the door gently   
behind her. The blonde leaned her head against the hard wood. "I do   
need you." She said softly.  
  
"You are MY child." The King of Uranus scooped up his youngest child   
in his arms. "Your sister and brother belong to your Mother, but you  
...are mine!" He would stroke the golden blonde hair and kiss his   
daughter on the cheek.   
  
Haruka smiled at the memory, her Father had been her hero. He was   
a just ruler a loving Father and a devoted husband, or at least   
she had believed him to be.   
  
She sat at the balcony, her arms folded on top of the cold carved   
stone railing. Her stomach grumbled at her, she ignored it. Three   
days had gone by since she had last had food and that was only a   
few bites. There was a throbbing in the front of her head   
that prevented her from sleeping. If only she could put things in   
perspective.   
She could forgive her Father the affair, after all...men are weak;   
they give into the flesh far too often. Haruka could understand that,   
after all how many times had she given into Michiru?  
  
"Michiru." She whispered. "You can never know the truth." She closed her   
eyes and rested her head on her arms as the day of Parva's memorial   
service played itself over again in her mind.  
  
They stood inside the palace library, the one place that insured privacy.   
"Did you deceive Mother?" Haruka asked simply, praying the answer would  
be no. If he said no, then life could go happily on and her faith in the   
universe as she knew it would be restored.  
  
He looked directly into her dark teal eyes. "Yes."  
  
Haruka sat down hard in one of the antique high back chairs. The world   
swam around her in a dark haze. Her Father sat next to her and took her   
hand.   
  
"Parva told you?"  
  
She could only nod; time seemed to have stopped.   
  
"Did she tell you everything?" He asked gently.  
  
"Everything?" She looked at him as if he were a stranger. "Yes,   
but its not true..."  
  
He had hoped Parva would have spared his baby this torment.   
"It is true."  
  
Haruka was on her feet now. "You can't know! You can't be sure!"  
  
The King spoke softly, she was already antagonized enough.   
"I am sure, tests were run."  
  
"Tests?" She felt a wild mixture of emotions, rage, pain...sorrow.   
"How..." The tears came, the frustration she had felt building   
up over the past few days now found a release. The King tried to   
hold his child, to offer her some comfort but she pulled away.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me? You know where things stand!" Anger had   
won out. "You've betrayed Mother and me!" She slammed her fist   
hard on the wooden table. "You should have stopped me before   
things went too far!"  
  
"No harm has been done." He said more for his own benefit than hers.  
  
"What?" She felt a cold shiver run through her spine. "How can you   
say that?"  
  
"Haruka, there was no need to burden you. Look at yourself, does   
knowing the truth help you at all?" He was grasping at straws. "Let   
the past die, you have your entire future ahead of you."  
  
Her eyes opened, she stared into the darkening sky. "My entire   
future?"  
  
"Haruka?"  
  
She hadn't heard the smaller girl enter her room. Michiru held a   
covered tray in her hands. "The maid says you haven't eaten." She   
sat the food down next to Haruka. "You really need your nourishment."   
The girl turned to leave.  
  
Haruka looked at the tray, then at the receding figure of her friend.   
"Michiru." She called gently.  
  
The green haired girl turned. "Yes?" Haruka stood in front of her,   
Staring at her. Michiru could see some sort of struggle was going   
on inside her partner. Haruka opened her mouth to say something   
then thought better of it.  
  
"Thank you." She said simply.  
  
Michiru nodded and turned to go, this time Haruka kept silent.   
As the door closed, Haruka fell to her knees tears welled in her   
eyes. "What is my future without you?"   
  
Michiru couldn't sleep; her thoughts were on Haruka. What was going   
on in her head? This had to be more than just Parva's death. The   
girl slipped out of her room and silently into Haruka's. There she   
found her lover asleep on the floor at the foot of her bed.  
  
"Haruka." She whispered as she sat next to the blonde, she brushed   
her golden bangs from her eyes. Haruka stirred in her sleep. "Come on,   
let's get you into bed."   
  
Haruka gazed at her with sleepy eyes as she climbed sluggishly to her   
feet. Michiru gently lowered her into bed and crawled in next to her,   
she pulled a cover over them.  
  
"Michiru..." Haruka passed out in Michiru's arms from total exhaustion.  
  
"Shh." Michiru held her close. "Things will get better, I'll take good   
care of you."  
  
When morning came Michiru found herself alone in bed. "Haruka?"   
There was no answer, she climbed out of bed and searched for the   
other girl. Michiru was growing weary of Haruka's behavior, true she   
was always more secretive than most people would be, but they were   
intimate with each other. Surely that would merit more trust on the   
blonde's part.  
  
Haruka stood in the temple at the foot of the statue of the god Uranus,   
dagger in hand. Madness had brought a strange form of clarity. Death was   
the only release she had. If she died now, surely the god would forgive   
what she had done. After all, she didn't know...ignorance had to count   
for something.   
She unsheathed the blade and held it up in the blistering sunlight.  
This was the only course; it would bring an end to the voices that   
plagued her sleep deprived mind. Parva was right to tell her to truth,   
it gave the senshi a chance to purge her sin and die an honorable death.   
'But what of Michiru?' Her own thoughts tried to sway her resolve.   
'How many times has she said she can't live without you?' Haruka lowered   
the blade. 'She won't survive you long, you must know that. She'll take   
her own life if you do this.' The blonde eyed the dagger a few more  
moments before tossing it aside. The sound of the blade striking the   
cold stone floor echoed inside the temple. Haruka clapped her hands over   
her ears to shut out the sound of the voices.   
  
"Am I to have no rest?" She asked the lifeless pile of carved rock,   
the image of her guardian deity.  
  
Michiru sat in the garden watching the sky darken, she felt a hand on   
her shoulder.   
  
"Michiru." Haruka's eyes were red and tired; she knelt down before the   
girl and buried her head in her lap.  
  
"Where have you been? I've been so worried." Her voice was filled with   
concern.  
  
She looked up at the dark blue eyes. "I'm sorry..." She sighed. "you   
must forgive me, I'm not as strong as I thought." If she were, she would   
have plunged the dagger into her heart and freed both herself and Michiru.   
Instead, she sat on the bench next to her lover and gazed sadly into her   
eyes.   
  
"I need you." She picked Michiru up in her arms and carried her to her   
bed. 'Let them all be damned.' The voices told her. "The King, his whore,   
Parva...that useless god Uranus let them all be damned. Your only   
salvation lies in the arms of your lover.'  
  
  
Michiru sighed softly in her sleep; Haruka smiled down at her and kissed   
the green velvety hair. So much for innocence, this time she was guilty   
there was no turning back now.   
She felt so empty inside. Her Father had won out; she would now have to   
keep his secret. Perhaps he was right all along...what harm had been   
done? None, as far as he was concerned, he still had his wife and his   
palace. He ruled and life was wonderful, Haruka could now bear his   
guilt.  
  
"My love." The blonde said softly as she brushed a strand of hair   
from Michiru's face. "You must never find out what I know." She kissed   
her forehead. "I'm going to kill the guilty pair, then you'll never   
know." She whispered to the sleeping girl.  
  
Haruka's eyes sparkled in the darkness; she heard Parva's voice again.   
That horrible conversation right before she died.  
  
"It happened when the King and your siblings went to Neptune." The old   
woman had gasped. "She seduced your Father, the Queen did. He was no   
match for her charms. I found the two of them together, he swore he  
would never touch another." Her breath was coming harder now. "Haruka,   
your Mother had just discovered she was pregnant with you at the time."  
  
"What are you saying Parva?" Haruka had held the old woman's hand gently.  
  
Parva took a deep breath; this was torture for her. "Your Father had a   
very brief affair with the Queen of Neptune. When he left, she was   
pregnant to him. The Princess Michiru is his child."  
  
Haruka had stared at her in horror. "No, that can't be!"  
  
Parva nodded. "She is your sister, she can not be your lover..." She   
choked on her words.  
  
Haruka's hand was shaking. "It...no, you're wrong. Father would have   
told me."  
  
"Haruka, you are blameless...the sin is his not yours." Parva's eyes   
were growing cold. "But you must break off this relationship with   
your sister, the gods will punish you for committing incest."  
  
"Incest." Haruka repeated the word.  
  
"You didn't know." Parva squeezed the child's hand. "I had to tell you  
...it must end."  
  
Haruka pulled Michiru to her; she could feel her heart beating against   
her side. Let the gods punish her, she would never let Michiru go. They   
could never survive without each other. She would return to the Moon   
Kingdom with Michiru for a time, then she would leave for a few days.   
When she returned both her Father and the Queen of Neptune would be   
dead, then Michiru would never know the truth, she would be spared.   
Incest and murder, she sighed as she stared into the darkness.  
  
"My darling Michiru," She whispered. "you are the only one who is   
blameless now."  
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